Metal
by SotF
Summary: A costume choice leads to what might just be very metal...  Halloween fic
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Well, every year I try to at least write a short Buffy Halloween fic. So this is this years.  


* * *

  
His hands worked the tools before jerking back as a few sparks danced within his project.

The chime of the clock warned him of yet another hour, and the passing of the one month mark.

One month since that day, one month since everything changed inside his head.

Lights flickered, but he ignored it and reached back inside to continue work.

A brief flash of memory crossed his mind as he continued the adjustments.

* * *

He'd ended up with a detention, something that messed his day up far worse.

He'd been stuck scrounging from the discount bins and found a few things that gave him an idea for what the night had been forced to become.

The mustache had given him the idea, and the red cape reminded him of something.

* * *

Closing the metal hatch, Xander reached one gloved hand over to the computer he'd acquired and attached a cable to what he had been working on.  


* * *

  
The inner tube was easy enough to modify and an old bald cap he'd gotten from Jessie years prior had completed the costume along with seven fake gems of different colors.

If he only knew that a spell was coming, or what it would do and everything could have been so different, but the city was unprepared for that which came.  


* * *

  
The metallic bird hopped into his lap as fingers caressed the keyboard as he worked without a sign of attention to the world at large.

A beep and he relaxed as a download bar appeared, "Good..."

It was a darker tone, one none would have ever associated with him before that night.

"So, very, very good..."

* * *

It was the dawn of something that night, but none could tell what. Almost as if all interested parties were holding their breath and wondering what would come next.

As light twinkled most curiously and quite chaotically around the seven emeralds bought with pocket change int he costume shop.

And by chaos the world would never no the disaster now floating down the streets.

* * *

"You can't do this!" the shrill screams of his, well, former principal filled the air of the warehouse, now adorned with countless machines, "I'll have you expelled!"

That which was once Alexander Lavelle Harris laughed, a sound both dark and disturbing as it echoed about the facility.

"Perhaps, but you were not quite the worthy adversary I would have loved to test my machine upon," Xander responded with an almost cheshire grin, "but in every game, there are winners and there are losers. And as you know, in this game, losers get robotizicized!"

And the heir of the mind of one Doctor Ivo Robotnik, master of Robotropolis, activated the machine.

A horrific scream echoed through the chamber as the boy who would be master of machines watched and caressed the robotic pet left over from his ascension.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** The more I work on this, the more I'm reminded about just how great of a show SatAM was...and how far Robotnik has fallen.

* * *

Xander grimaced as he fiddled with the holographic emitter.

It wasn't quite his best work, but the device had been working well enough to cover for his roboticization of the principal. He was having a few second thoughts about that act as well, the machine proving as annoying as the man had been.

At least the man was rather easily avoided...

Completing the minor tuning of the disguise, he turned back to the other machine still in progress on the workbench.

Continuing work was the only thing that kept him from sending the forces he'd already built down to the school and dragging that fool, Rayne, back to allow him a suitable location to voice his displeasure.

At least the work also made it easier to ignore the bits of his thoughts plotting methods of conquest of the city or world domination.

Part of him was pushing away from his friends while fighting the concepts All Hallows Eve had left within his brain. That little voice that brought up just how impressive a Slayers abilities would be when boosted by roboticization, and how useful such a minion would be.

The speakers had been set to broadcast from the hidden bugs he'd, well, let loose to keep watch over those he still considered to be friends.

"Don't worry Cluck," he stated while reaching from his seat over to the robotic bird perched atop the computer and stroking the cold steel of its serrated beak, "I'll let you have your fun with that fool when he tries to escape our allies."

* * *

Ethan Rayne ran for it.

The reason for his return was destroyed, and good riddance.

Now he just had to get out of town before his former friend and an enraged slayer could catch up with him.

He heard but a bit of scraping metal before his foot kicked something hard and he stumbled, rolling hard against the cement.

Managing to suppress a yelp, the chaos mage turned to see just what had run underfoot in the dim light.

"A chicken?" he muttered, wondering if he was seeing things correctly.

And then it's eyes lit up as if the switch were thrown and it stepped towards him. Dull metal plates and a glistening comb of blood red that matched the brightly lit eyes. The serrated beak was not something he wanted anywhere near him in the disturbingly menacing aura the thing gave out was telling of its nature.

"What have you found for me, Cluck?" the slow voice stated from the shadows as something far larger moved towards him as a dull thrumming filled the air.

The figure wasn't actually any larger than a normal teenage boy, but the machine he was seated within moved into the light, hovering a good yard off the ground. He was armored, though Ethan couldn't tell if parts were integrated into his body or not, but the machine bird somehow fluttered up to its masters arm as those eyes turned upon him, cackling in a almost sarcastic tone with each beat of those bladed wings.

"A rat you say," the form seemed to respond to the gibbering, "Well then, there is only one response to such a thing, but at least it's not a hedgehog..."

The tone seemed to almost brighten as the next words were spoken.

"SWATbots," Xander stated, the order crisp and clear, "Take him."

Ethan's blood ran cold as the dark alley seemed to light up with dozens of glowing eyes, each revealing a hint at the black armor of the robots waiting to serve their masters call...

* * *

The partially disassembled robot lay atop the table, elbow deep in what might have looked human at one point.

Hissing steam from the doors alerted him to the return of his minions.

"Objective complete," was the simple statement as Xander reached over and adjusted one of the overhead monitors before returning to his work.

Ted was an interesting specimen to examine, primitive by his standards, but there were some very interesting applications to some of his technology. However, whatever being programmed the diversion was lacking at that end while a genius at other points.

He had no need of the machines relative crude infiltration programs, inherited memories reminded him briefly of the duplicate he'd made of the Princess so long ago. That was a work of art, this wasn't even really trying it seemed.

What really interested him was the power source, something he'd already copied for something special he'd been working on for weeks.

The heir of Robotnik paused while watching the disguised robots home detonate through the video feed, satellite feeds were such wondrous things, and the place had been stripped of anything possibly useful before he ordered his minions to stage a gas leak.

Turning from his research, Xander walked to another lab in his warehouse, the assorted robots of various creatures that had managed to evade the Slayer and yet hadn't the luck to evade his SWATbots were simply fodder for the roboticizer.

The camera in the library showed the others gathering, and their conversation was on something perfect.

"No weapon forged..."

Mad laughter erupted from him, one that would have sent chills down the spine of anyone who had known him as he turned to the glass tube containing his latest creation.

A flash of light revealed the smallest bit of blue metal on the form within.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note:** And now to introduce the first major enforcer

* * *

Rupert Giles grabbed Buffy and Willow as the deafening roar of the trucks horn tore through the abandoned parking lot.

The semi in question passed within a foot of them as it continued to accelerate on a beeline for the entrance before the three were bowled over by the bound form of the stolen vehicles former driver.

"My god," the Englishman managed to let out before the vehicle plowed into the entrance with a scream of rending metal and shattering glass before the trailer seemed to roll forward behind the cab, smashing the end of it into the wall above the ruined entryway.

It was a wall of wreckage that blocked their egress to the interior, and the fall of their plans.

But, perhaps, another's plans had just begun as the ruined trucks remains shielded them from the explosion within.

* * *

Angelus slowly crawled back to his feet, looking at the mayhem between himself and what used to be the malls entrance.

He'd picked this section because of the theater, and it had only been the concessions stand in the middle of the area that had kept his force alive, but the humans were screaming. If it had been his idea, it would have had him smiling.

Dru's face seemed almost paler than usual in the flickering of spreading flames that were swiftly joined by the downpour from the sprinklers that were still intact.

A flash of motion caught his eye.

Had something survived that, the concept seemed insane, but more motion.

A cloaked figure, was moving through the flames as the lights finally died, and then it looked up at him, the only light in the room came from those glowing, crimson eyes.

As the Judge froze, the figure seemed to vanish with a roar that at least matched the explosions volume, and the demon could only stare as Angelus also disappeared only for both figures to reappear.

The vampire was driven into the wall, shattering the plaster and sending shards outwards before his eyes could see what had attacked for but a moment, and even then only noticing the metallic sheen as the red, emergency lighting came on in response to the havoc of their foes initial attack.

Then the machine pivoted, still grasping the entity that was once angel, then shifting into a throw to toss aside the stunned blood sucker with almost contemptuous ease as the Judge took a shocked step away.

It was only the sound of shattering glass from the flying body smashing through a storefront that broke the shock in the Judge, allowing him to act and attempt to fight back.

While the attack seemed to be a stream of lightning, it had little to do with electricity, and even then it did nothing to slow down his foe beyond prompt it to discard the now flaming cloak and reveal the form that had been concealed.

One might say it was short for a killing machine, at least if you took a human perspective of eye level. Spines draped backwards as if it were some industrial interpretation of a mohawk merged with a buzzsaw. Armor plating with the joints fused, or perhaps the entire armor had been cast and forged in a single piece.

An arm raised, metallic spikes that flexed as fingers folded into a fist pointed at the ancient monster while the gauntlet shifted and revealed something that might have been akin to a gun fired a pulse of energy through the shadows.

The Judge went airborne, clearing the railing, but the attack didn't end there as the machine moved again, closing in the blink of an eye to smash into its foe in midair, acting as the hammer to the Judge being a nail.

A demons roar was cut off, shifting to an almost pitiful mewling as the audible sound of bones snapping ripped from the monster, and the machine stepped back.

Gasping for breath and attempting to find the ability within its smashed body to speak, the Judge knelt there above the spiderweb fractures in the marble flooring while the metal warrior that had attacked positioned itself behind, the second arm revealing another weapon and both taking position.

The dual flashes of both weapons firing ended the Judge, body falling to the floor, smoldering from energy weapons fire.

Drusilla, the sole witness to the entirety of the fight, just stared as the machine walked away.

* * *

Xander sat there upon the metallic throne, watching the screen displaying the files from his servants memory banks.

His seat was meant for someone many times larger than him, but then again, it was possible that he'd fill it out just as Julius had.

While many held the misconception that the good doctor was overweight, the truth was that Robotnik was anything but. Roboticization was not just a tool for creating minions, but something the mad genius had used to improve his own body beyond what any human could relying on the abilities provided by nature.

While not the same form of the process as what gave him such interesting minions, it did have the same basis and the plans had been used to entice the King into funding the research in the first place.

Of course, the military aspects were far simpler to develop without such trivial details as free will in his subjects.

For a moment he'd pondered the image many would have had of his abode.

Flickering lights and many other trappings of a mad scientist were absent.

Not because of the atmosphere, his inherited fashion sense covered that in styles that still creeped out some portion of his brain.

But the one thing that the mechanical mastermind had always used to his advantage was efficiency, a flickering bulb was one that should be replaced, damage should be repaired, and, well, hedgehogs should be annihilated (though he'd yet to actually come face to face with the last part of that in his personal experience).

He was pondering methods to amplify the power of Metal Sonic's cannons after their showings against the Judge, as well as a new coating material that wouldn't be as susceptible to the carbon scoring that could effect his weapons performance in the future, not to mention something difficult to scrub clean in the joints of the machine.

All in all, his pets outing had been a successful field test for its combat capabilities.

Baring no illusions that Angelus' existence had been ended, he considered options for dealing with the being that had irked him before his apotheosis as one hand stroked clucks cold, steel plating.

His free hand caressed one of the facets of the glowing gem waiting for him to find a use for it.


End file.
